Foreign Minister address at the High Level Conference on Yemen in London

January 28, 2010

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal address at the High Level Conference on Yemen in London, 27 January 2010

I thank the Honorable Prime Minister of Great Britain for inviting us all to this timely and important meeting. I wish also to welcome the participation of the Prime Minister of Yemen and our brothers from Yemen, and to express my gratitude to the Honorable David Miliband, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, for the hospitality and excellent organization of this event.

Allow me to start by quoting Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, who said that "faith is Yemeni and wisdom is Yemeni". Yemen is a country of ancient civilizations and very proud and pioneering people, and we have every faith in the wisdom of our Yemeni brothers to overcome the current challenges they face.

We are all gathered here to declare very clearly our friendship to Yemen, our commitment to helping Yemen, and our determination to be partners with Yemen. The international community fully and strongly supports all the efforts of Yemen to consolidate its unity, maintain its stability and security, achieve its development and prosperity, and strengthen its capability and capacity.

Our joint efforts in assisting Yemen to achieve these highly important objectives can only be based on our respect for the sovereignty and independence of Yemen, and on our strict adherence to the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs. In fact, Saudi Arabia firmly believes that one of the major threats faced by Yemen today is precisely the external intervention by some regional hegemonic powers that seek to plant the destructive seeds of conflict and instability among the people of Yemen who share a deeply rooted history of unity and harmony.

Saudi Arabia will continue to offer every possible assistance to our brothers in Yemen, and to urge all the countries gathered here to do the same. As the largest donor for Yemen, Saudi Arabia has already carried through all its commitments pledged in the 2006 London Conference, and added to them other commitments in the context of the Joint Saudi Yemeni Coordination Council.

With the international community standing united in support of Yemen, we are confident that Yemen will be able to overcome all the challenges facing it today, so that the people of Yemen can enjoy the levels of security and prosperity they deserve.